New Date for When 2016 W2 Forms Come Out in 2017

The IRS deadline for employers to send out W2s has been set for the upcoming 2016, 2017 tax season. Employers of all sizes must comply with this to avoid being fined or having their employees refunds delayed.

The Employer Deadline For When W2s Must Be Sent Out

The requirement for employers is that they must send out or make their W2s available online no later than January 31st.

This same deadline also applies to the 1099-MISC form for non-employee compensation payments, such as those made to workers who work on a temporary basis.

If a deadline extension is requested there are new requirements regarding this. Only a single 30-day extension for the W2 form is available. This is not an automatic extension, like it once was. The employer must fill out a Form 8809 and submit it as soon as they can.

Deadline extensions must be submitted by January 31st. The IRS is stressing the importance of this information being spread far and wide.

Why Has this Deadline Been Set?

The goal is to help the IRS reduce errors through giving them more time to check each return. Having the forms sent out earlier will allow for better fraud prevention. Tax refunds should also be released at a faster rate as well, although only time will tell as to how much faster.

Refunds on Certain Tax Credits Delayed

There are also new rules regarding withholding of refunds. These new rules have been made at the Federal level and will impact the tax system nationwide.

The main change is that many refunds will automatically be delayed until February 15th. This comes because of the IRS being given more time to detect refund fraud, which has become a serious problem in recent years.

Two key tax credits have also been withheld until February 15th for the same reason.

The PATH act has changed the ways refunds on certain tax credits are handled. If you claim the Earned Income Tax Creditor theAdditional Child Tax Creditthis change will apply to you. The new law states that refunds on these tax credits will be automatically delayed until February 15th. By law the IRS must hold the whole refund, rather than just the parts made up by these two credits.

Taxpayers should continue to file as before. These changes don’t alter the information you must supply to the IRS.

No Guarantees

The IRS has noticed an increasing trend of people spending before they receive their refunds. The IRS has cautioned against this. Although nine out of ten of all refunds are processed and delivered within 21 days, there are no guarantees of when yours will come. Occasionally some returns must be held back for further reviews.